The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and relevant links.

Scripps Pier Sunset

Three distinct cloud layers are present in this image of sunset over the Pacific Ocean. The lowest is the marine layer, which typically manifests within the first few hundred feet of atmosphere; nighttime hangs close under its eaves. As evening advances the marine layer will creep onshore and swath the land in fog. The uppermost layer of altostratus clouds is distant and still fully illuminated by the sun. The middle layer of scattered dissipating cumulus is in transition, being brushed by the last few rays of setting sun. Scripps Pier stands in the foreground, part of the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.